Noctua NH-D9L Tower Cooler Review - PAGE 1

Back on November 12th of last year, Noctua announced the update of its popular NH-U9B SE2 model tower cooler with two new tower cooler models. One of those models, the NH-D9L, is a lower profile design utilizing dual cooling towers. Measuring 15mm lower in height than the older NH-U9B SE2, even with the fan installed, the NH-D9L is able to fit into a 3U chassis for those looking for a quiet cooling option for video and audio processing setups.

Not only is the NH-D9L a dual tower cooler, Noctua added another heat pipe to draw the heat from the nickel plated copper base and up the dual tower coolers for dissipation. Further aiding heat transfer, Noctua also upgraded the fan to the NF-A9 PWM model. The newer premium fan has higher maximum rotational speeds capable of moving at least 14 more cubic feet of air per minute at the cost of just 5 additional decibels of noise level. The only issue is that the NH-D9L comes with only one fan, but at least Noctua includes a second set of mounting clips for a dual fan setup.

The one item that you might find similar between these tower cooler models is the "SecuFirm2" mounting system. The SecuFirm2 mounting kit for the newer NH-D9L does have some differences; the Intel LGA1115x option uses a fixed screw back square plate instead of an X-shaped plate with multiple screw slots, and the nickel plated copper heat sink plate already has the fastening brackets attached. 

I know there are other dual tower coolers on the market, but most are neither designed for 3U compatibility nor dual fan compatible. What's more, if you need additional socket compatibility for the NH-D9L, you can obtain the optional NM-13 mounting kit for LGA 1366 or 775 Intel processor sockets directly from Noctua for free.

Let’s check the specifications then get into the fairly large box for such a compact tower cooler design.